The Doctor had been fatally injured. His companion captured, and he found himself unable to do a thing about it. A single barrel defeated a time lord? It's insane. The Doctor would never live this down. Pauline was a strong girl, she'd be fine, even if she were Sabbath Kong's toy. And, if he were to be perfectly honest, it was really her choice.

But that was another life, another body. The Doctor never fixed his mistakes, and this wasn't the time to start. What he needed to do, the one thing he absolutely needed to do, was finish regenerating. And put out the fire raging through the TARDICC, so two things he absolutely needed to do.

His neurons, or what time lords have instead of neurons, discharged at every step. They weren't done yet, though they would be if the TARDICC fell apart in the time stream. Koopaleks could threaten imminent immediate death. That was fine, The Doctor could handle imminent immediate death. For some reason, being scattered across time and space in a trillion little subatomic particles didn't sit well with The Doctor.

At the console built for seven, The Doctor managed to punch in his coordinates in time. It was nearby, and Trophy World was innocuous enough. There was the added bonus that, if his TARDICC blew up, he'd be able to restore it without traveling by foot across vast expanses of time and space to the Gallifrey Kingdom and having to explain why he couldn't produce his registration and why he didn't have insurance.

The TARDICC came to a rest, by which I mean, it hit the ground, bounced high in the air, hit the ground again, tumbled a little bit then dug itself into the soil pretty firmly. The Doctor crawled out of the open hole in the top, following the smoke, which he though probably had the right idea about where fresher air was.

"Look at you..." The Doctor said. On the outside, his time machine looked like an ordinary Clown Car. Right now, however, it looked like an ordinary clown car, caked in dirt and grass and mud.

His presence didn't escaped unnoticed. A young woman approached the smoldering crater with a torch. "Who are you?" she asked the smoky figure.

The figure stepped forward, "It's-a me! The Doctor! Woo hoo!"

The woman raised her torch and asked, "What kind of doctor are you?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Just the Doctor."

"I mean," the woman tried again, "what's your degree in?"

"Oh, uh," the Doctor thought a moment. "Space travel?"

The woman paused, her hand on her chin, lost in thought. "Oh, so you're an astronomer, then." Then she squealed. "Oh, this is perfect! Come with me."

"Why?" The Doctor asked. All he wanted right now was to go back to his TARDICC and finish regenerating. Oh, and put out that fire.

"We need someone like you to help us solve this mystery," the woman said. "Oh, and my name is Raini. Anyway, a block fell down from the sky with these strange meanings, and we can't figure out what this all means!"

"But," the Doctor said, waving his hand towards his time machine.

"Oh! That!" Raini frowned. "Well, we'll find someone to take care of this. Let's hurry!"

Raini grabbed the Doctor's hand and began running.

OoC: Is Raini a Super MaRPGio reference? I hope it won't be considered rude to take this in a different direction entirely. This post might kind of hijack the OG, so I'm open to changing/scrapping it.

On that same planet, a small city conspicuously occupied its place in the middle of a vast desert. No huts or tents could be found; instead, the city was composed of several dozen houses constructed with sand-worn metal. At the center of the city was a humble palace; small enough that you wouldn't call it a palace in most other contexts, but amongst this diminutive community, it stood glorious.

Nabooru, a female in her late 20's, held a solemn--if not cold--look on her face as she approached the king on his throne. A much bulkier metallic humanoid walked beside her. Nabooru's slender form and graceful, dignified walk was only matched by the width and awkward pace of her metal companion.

King Ganondorf stifled his smile. "How is the first Cyber-Moblin?"

Nabooru handed Ganondorf a folder, thick with papers, which was labeled "Cyber-Moblin Case 001." She said, "Grendel is nearly complete, sire."

Ganondorf opened the folder and looked at the top of the first page. It read,



"Sir?" Nabooru said.

"Yes?"

"Before you interview Grendel, we need to discuss power."

Ganondorf thought for a second. "What?"

"Frankly, sir, the Cyber-Moblin module consumes too much power to practically sustain. We need resources like those of the Hylians if we ever hope to advance the Gerudo race."

"I see. And you've already done everything you can to conserve power?"

"Yes sir."

"Very well. I'll see what I can do about your resources..."

OoC: In the super old Doctor Who episodes, I really like that they always set up a conflict on an alien locale before introducing the Doctor. So, I imagine Ganondorf going to the King of Hyrule and pulling the ol' "I'm your best friend OOP hope you don't mind that I killed you" shtick, and somehow this block with weirdo writing gets thrown in the middle. But, you better change that somehow, since this is an OG.

OoC: Well, she is now. It is Trophy World, after all. Oh, and Greg. That's a very good point, but it's important to introduce the main character in the first post, and let everyone else do the hard work.

Toad Town was crowded that day. In fact, Raini assumed there were more people gathered around the block than had fallen from the sky. This was odd, because Toad Town had been placed under quarantine as soon as the block landed in the middle of Toad Town's busiest street, blocking all traffic, and generally being a nuisance to anyone who commuted there. Then Raini wondered how The Doctor managed to get in. Oh, that's right. The guards were standing dumbfounded around the block.

On the four sides visible to The Doctor, the block had question marks covering it. "It's like a mystery block! Ha! Whatever sent this here sure had a sense of humor."

"It's scary..." said Raini.

The block began to pulse, and the lights of Toad Town started to dim.

"What's happening?" said one Toad.

"What happened to the lights?" said another.

The Doctor walked up to a light pole and took out his Sonic Socket Wrench. The lights flickered on, but dimmed as soon as the Sonic Socket Wrench was taken away.

"I don't suppose anyone has a television or something similar?" asked The Doctor to no one in particular.

"No, for some reason," said Raini. "But the Princess has a crystal ball. Maybe she'll let you use it."

"Yeah," said another Toad. "Just don't grab it. Stupid Hawkface."

The Sonic Socket Wrench lead the way, down the roads to where the Princess' large and fabulous castle sat. Red tiles covered its roof, and at its corners, the tower was flanked by turrets. The walls had been recently repainted a lovely ivory white color, and none of this detail could be appreciated in the dark.

Along the bridge covering the moat were those old manual torches that polluted the environment.

Toad guards opened the castle doors, prompting the Doctor to say aloud, "well, that was easy."

Almost immediately the Doctor found himself face to face with the Princess.

"The Doctor!" said Princess Peach.

"Ah, I have a reputation. Lovely." The Doctor tried not to giggle.

"My sworn enemy."

"Ah, enemy?" the Doctor asked quizzically. It was rare to have someone he had not met yet consider him an enemy- especially a sworn one; that took some level of commitment. He noted that this title caused the mushroom-capped toad people to wave their low-grade spears at him.

The princess huffed crossly in reply. "Of course. What else would I consider you? After you showed up from nowhere yesterday and stole the Power Star that kept our city safe. Do you have any idea what danger you've placed that in? And I don't see the star with you, so you've obviously gone back on your word."

"You must have a mistake." The Doctor had been throughout various phases of time and space to the point where he had arrived in periods shortly before or after trips he had yet to make. This was one of those cases- at some point in his future, he must travel back to take the castle's star. But why? And more importantly, how would he explain this? "I didn't happen to leave a-a, message or something, did I?"

The princess blinked for a moment, temporarily relaxing the stern determination in her face. "Well yes, you were like a madman. You started to tell me, to tell you something... but then you stopped because you said there wasn't a point. Something like, 'If I am going to tell myself something, I would have known it already.' But what does that matter? You're going to spend time in the dungeons until you can tell us where the star is."

"But I don't have to enjoy it," the Doctor said while the Toads dragged him away. He was not going to make a stand against the helpless creatures. It would help them feel good about themselves putting away a dastardly fiend like him- and he could use the time to mull over what was going on with that block.

The Doctor spent some time in his cell thinking and tinkering with tools on his person. He also took a moment to take a good look at this new form of his in the toilet's reflection, seeing that he was a short, chubby, hairy man who appeared to be of Italian descent. Odd; he did not think his incarnations could get more attractive, but this regeneration had found a way. Eventually, he removed a stethoscope from his coat and placed it against the ground; he could hear the pulses being emitted by the block. Various mathematical equations were connecting like pipes in his brain.

It was not long before Raini visited his cell, along with a young man who seemed to be of the same age. The man clasped her hand tightly and looked a bit defensively angry. But Raini simply called out, "Oh there he is! The Doctor!" Throughout the conversation, the closest thing to background music was the dripping of a leaky faucet in the cell's sink.

The man looked him up and down, clearly impressed. "Doctor who, again?"

"No, an entirely new doctor," The Doctor answered playfully.

"Alright Doctor Mario," snarked the man back. "Why are we helping this weirdo anyhow, Raini?"

"Oh come on Raz, he's a real smart guy. We'll need him to solve these mysteries. Don't you be so mean with him, you two should get along famously." She then looked over at the Doctor. "I'm sorry about this, I'm trying to convince the princess to let you out. And this is my fiancee here, Raz."

"It's all just dandy," said the Doctor. "I think I've got this just about figured out." He then looked over to Raz. "And please just call me Doctor, people will start thinking I have an actual name, and a name is a dangerous thing to have. Now would you mind telling me a bit about this here box?"

Raini nodded and began to explain, "See, the mystery boxes are a bit commonplace in today's society. They're cutting-edge little boxes that can hold nearly anything, and we all have a few on us-"

"There was the one I kept your engagement ring in, remember?" Raz interjected with a smirk. The pink-jeweled ring on Raini's finger glimmered brightly.

"Oh of course dear. Modern day ones have many other functions too. But this box out here... it is an ancient one. One that's just the normal size- and I'd say it doesn't hold anything bigger than itself. All it has on it are question marks... no one's figured out how to quite open it yet. And whether or not it would be safe."

There was a moment of silence that Raz broke. "What's with the bloody smile already?"

The Doctor's arrogant smirk had grown throughout Raini's explanation, and then he spoke. "I got it all figured out." Then he quickly produced a wrench from his coat and twisted a pipe to the sink. The faucet's leak died immediately. "Well, bring the princess down here. It's time I got pardoned."

Ganondorf and four lean, though healthy, Gerudos emerged from the pipes in the Toad Town sewers. Ganondorf had explained that, while the Hylians were worth their scorn and hatred, the Mushroom people had greater resources.

Ganondorf and the Gerudos made their way to the surface, planning to silently investigate what power source they might steal. The kingdom's Power Star was well known but well guarded.

There was a crowd in the town square around a giant yellow block. "Follow me," Ganondorf said to his cohorts, "this may be interesting..."

A guard unlocked the Doctor's cell and he walked out. The smile still hadn't left his face.

"You are aware that if you are lying, Doctor, this is two counts of treason on your record."

The Doctor, the Princess, Raini, Raz, and the guard walked towards the exit of the prison together.

"You don't seem to understand, Princess, that this will clear me from the first count."

Raini was puzzled. "But Doctor, what would be the use?"

"How do you mean?" the Doctor asked.

"Why would you steal the Power Star just to drop it off so quick?"

They exited the prison and started towards the center of the town.

"I'm not sure either. We should wait to see for ourselves as events unfold."

A large crash sounded. Before anyone could draw the group's attention to it, the Princess asked, "Are you claiming ignorance of the crime you committed just one day ago?"

The Doctor responded, "In a manner of speaking. Time doesn't work the same way for me as it does for you."

The block was now within sight, and a man in dark clothing stood atop it, clutching a star that was three feet tall and three feet wide. Four similar, though thinner, men stood at the base of the block. At their feet were several unconscious mushroom people. The rest of the mushroom people were either fleeing or keeping their distance from the block.

The Doctor stroked his chin. "Huh. I thought I'd've sealed it better than that."

The Doctor looked around, surveying his surroundings. With the Princess being set against him, and the fact that while he had clearly expected those cloaked figures to be there, he had not expected them to be there so soon. Has that fire in the TARDICC put itself out yet?

There was only one course of action.

"Run," the Doctor said, grabbing both Raz and Raini's arms and hightailing it out of there. The only place to really go for cover at this time was a nearby forest. They ran, leaving the Mushroom Kingdom and the Princess behind.

"Hey!" the Princess shrieked. "Return at once!"

Upon reaching the forest, Raz and Raini relaxed a bit. But the Doctor was on guard, because he knew what was in this forest. There was a faint cackling, and Raz jumped.

"Quiet, quiet, be very quiet," the Doctor warned. "And lastly, don't blink. Blink, and you're dead. This forest is full of what is known as the 'Weeping Boos'. They're fast. Oh, they're so fast. Like lightning. And they kill so quietly."

"So why did you lead us into this forest!?" a vexed Raz asked the Doctor.

"It was the only way out," the Doctor simply answered. "Come now, we don't have time to waste. The Weeping Boos will have a corporeal form when you look at them. But other than that, they'll be so quick you won't be able to see them."

"So how do we avoid them, Doctor?" Raini asked.

"The cackling. As it gets closer, so do they. Just keep far away from the cackling, and you'll be fine," the Doctor answered.

They trudged through the forest, looking for some way to either return, or find a way to battle the hooded figures.

===
Back at the Toad Town, the Princess turned towards the hooded figures.

"How may I help you?" she asked them.